High-profile appeals court writes that the insurance case is “but a speck on the interstellar surface.”
Judiciary
Insurance case is ‘but a speck in the recesses of interstellar space,’ high-profile appeals judge writes
April 28, 2025, 3:07 pm CDT
Law professor (and future federal judge) J. Harvie Wilkinson III listens during his testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in August 1994. (Photo by Cynthia Johnson/Getty Images)
In a span of less than a week, a conservative federal appeals judge has written two opinions that are getting attention–for taking a tough stand against the mistaken deportation of an immigrant in one case and for waxing philosophical in another case.
In an April 17 opinion, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III took the Trump administration to task for “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process.”
Wilkinson wrote the “blistering” opinion for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia of Maryland, according to the New York Times.
Abrego Garcia was deported to a prison in El Salvador in Central America because of an “administrative error.” The case is Abrego Garcia v. Noem.
Now, Wilkinson is getting attention once again for an April 23 opinion in an insurance dispute involving a man on a lawn mower struck and killed by an underinsured motorist, according to Above the Law and the Judicial Notice newsletter at Original Jurisdiction.
The 4th Circuit held that the man’s estate was entitled to $150,000 under the plain terms of the man’s underinsured motorist coverage–and nothing more.
Wilkinson engaged in “existential, metaphysical musings” at the end of his opinion, according to Judicial Notice.
Here is what Wilkinson wrote: “What after all does it matter? The 4th Circuit ruled that the man’s estate was entitled to $150,000 under the plain terms of his underinsured motorist coverage–and nothing more. According to Judicial Notice, Wilkinson wrote: “What after all does it matter? Each year, judges render hundreds of decisions. This case is a mere speck compared to the vastness of interstellar distance and the four billion years since the birth of our solar system. What is the point of this case, abandoned by both space and history?
“To be human means to live in the present moment. This small case finds courage in the vast impersonality of its surroundings. Its immediacy confuses infinity, and its passions illuminate the dark. We have done our best, and the litigants have done their best. We do not ignore for a moment the tragic death of the insured but we also cannot ignore the contract under South Carolina law that defines an insurer’s obligation. We do not overlook for a moment the tragic passing of the insured but neither can we ignore the contract under South Carolina law that defines the insurer’s obligation.”
The insurance case is Owners Insurance Co. v. Walsh.
Wilkinson, 80, was appointed to the 4th Circuit by former President Ronald Reagan, the New York Times reports in a story about his background. He is “son of patrician Virginia banker”, an Army veteran, and a University of Virginia law graduate. After law school he worked in the U.S. Department of Justice and as a professor of law.
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